SELLING YOUR FARM-PRODUCED MEAT
Many aspects of the sale of meat have their own sets of rules and regulations. While there are some exceptions from these special controls, it is very important that traders are aware of what the law requires. It is a complicated and bureaucratic area, and we have tried to simplify this below, but will provide ,ore guidance on this in the near future.
Getting your meat cut for you:
Butchers shops (where your meat is cut up and returned to you for sale) must be formally approved as a meat cutting premise. This is not a particularly straightforward procedure and small butchers may not have such an approval, as it is a process aimed largely at meat wholesaling. You may think that your local butchers shop is a retailer and not a wholesaler and therefore not affected by any of this. However, there are some complex legal distinctions between what constitutes wholesale and retail operations and these can affect retail butchers' premises.
Check with your butcher that a suitable approval exists before you start to trade. Although these approvals are carried out by Central Government bodies, your local Environmental Health Department can help you with finding this out.
Cutting up meat yourself
If you cut up your own meat at your farm or other premises you own, and then sell it only from your market stall, then the farm buildings that you use will need approval as a meat cutting premise. However, if you sell meat both direct from your farm shop and also from a market stall, you may not need approval depending on how much meat you sell away from the shop. Please contact your local Environmental Health Department for advice.
If meat is cut up for sale to the public only at your market stall, you do not need cutting premises approval.
Butchers Licensing
Whether or not premises need approval for meat cutting, your stall or farm shop may need a separate butchers licence if you sell both raw meat that is displayed unwrapped alongside almost any other foodstuff that is sold ready to eat. Again, please contact your local Environmental Health Department for advice.
The advice above is not exhaustive please contact your local Environmental Health staff before commencing trading.
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